Deadly Doug finds best ever form to clinch Portugal place

Douglas McGregor clinched a place in the Lombard Trophy final in Portugal - just three years after being given golf lessons as a Christmas present.

The Elderslie Golf Club amateur partnered PGA Professional Scott McGrenaghan for the regional qualifying event at Blairgowrie Golf Club.

And the duo carded a 10 under par round of 62 to win by two shots ahead of Fraser Rummins and Ross Steele of Canmore Golf Club.

Now McGrenaghan and McGregor will travel to Portugal for the £41,450, Coca-Cola and Pestana Resorts supported, National Pro-Am grand final which will be played at the Vila Sol resort in the Algarve between September 20-21.

But McGregor, a 45-year-old electrical engineer from Renfrew, says he played the best golf of his life.

“I’m still in shock talking about it now,” said the 12-handicapper.

‘I’ve only been playing golf for three years, that was after my brother-in-law bought me lessons for Christmas. I took it up from there and I was hooked from the

“But I’d had no interest in golf before that, I’d been playing football before that and I needed something that’d get the competitive juices flowing.

“At the club, I won most improved golfer last year. I started with a 23 handicap and got myself down to 13.6. But this was the best I’d ever played, I was seven under par for the back nine which was incredible.”

But he admitted that the omens were not good going into the Lombard qualifier at the Perthshire course.

“The Saturday before the event, I shot 95! That’s my worst for years,” he added.

‘But the evening after this one I was still asking myself ‘Did that actually happen?’.

“The prize at the end of it was a bonus, I’ve been to Vilamoura to play golf so it’ll be great to go back there for a competition like this.”

McGrenaghan was impressed with his amateur’s performance.

“He certainly did a bit of damage, I actually played with him in this event at Craigielaw last year and he qualified again this time,” he said.

“It was a good day when everything seemed to go right. This is the first time I’ve ever made it through to the national final.”